Dragon Den Heat
by Spark Plug x
Summary: They don't know it, but Clair notices the smiles and looks they share throughout the battle. She also notices the upset look in Lyra's eyes as Lance says his goodbyes and disappears into the dark of the Dragon Den. Trickyshipping.


**Lyra is 17/18 years old in this fanfiction!**

Lyra felt the pressure as Silver's crobat fainted. Clair was giving her a victorious smirk and Lance still had the same smile that was on his face before the battle even began. She had already beaten Lance and Clair once, and she was going to be damned if she couldn't do it again!

"Ampharos! Use thunderpunch on her dragonite!" Lyra ordered while clinching her fist. She, now that Silver's last Pokémon had fainted, was against two of the strongest trainers she knew. She had to keep calm though. Getting worried would just distract her from the battle that was going on right in front of her. Her Ampharos sent large amounts of electricity towards the enemy Pokémon. Clair's dragonite cried out after being attacked and finally fainted, much to Lyra's relief and Clair's dismay.

"Great job, but we aren't done yet!" Lyra cheered, encouraging her Pokémon to take out Lance's dragonite. "Take it down with a thunderpunch!"

"Dodge, Dragonite, and use Draco Meteor!" Lance ordered with the smile still on his face. He loved watching Lyra battle. She had this aura about her that always got his interest, even when she was still a kid with a tiny cyndaquil in her arms. Now, much older and with a ferocious looking typhlosion and other strong Pokémon, she had his full attention, but hadn't she always had it? Clair watched her cousin and noted that he was a little too excited for this battle.

Lyra felt panic again, knowing the attack could easily take her out of the battle. "Try to dodge it, Ampharos; I know you can win this!" Her Pokémon nodded and began to charge up another attack, not wanting to disappoint its trainer. It made it through drangonite's powerful attack and sent waves of electricity shooting towards the dragon Pokémon. "Finish it with a thunderpunch!" She smirked at Lance, feeling more confident.

"Dodge Dragonite!" Lance shouted. His Pokémon tried to move, but ampharos' previous attack had paralyzed it, so it couldn't move. A few second later, it fainted and was returned to its Pokémon with a few encouraging words from Lance, letting it know it had done its best. "Did you see that, Clair?"

"Yes, yes I did." Lyra was expecting Clair to say this bitterly, but she had a small smile on her face, much like her cousin's smile, though his was much better, and was directed more at Lyra. She felt her cheeks heat up, but she hid it well. She returned his smile, but quickly turned to Silver to smile at him when Clair noticed her smiling at Lance.

"Silver, going solo is one way to aim for the top, but that's not all there is to Pokémon battles. I'm sure you must know this by now though. I'll see you later, Lyra and Silver; we'll have to do this again soon!" With that, Lance was walking away from the group, his cape flowing elegantly behind him. Lyra's heart sank as he walked away.

"I'll talk to you later, Lyra and wise boy!" Clair called out, and like her cousin did, walked away with her cape also flowing behind her.

Lyra wanted to run off now, hoping she could catch Lance before he left, but she knew she couldn't just leave Silver. "You did great!" She turned to him with a big smile on her face.

"I still wasn't strong enough…"

"So? I almost wasn't strong enough for them! They are the toughest trainers I've ever had to battle before. Don't sweat it, alright? Just do your best!"

Silver nodded at Lyra's advice, though she didn't think he really wanted to accept it. He said farewell to her and left her as well.

Lyra returned her pokemon to its ball and took off. She threw out a pokeball and her red gyarados appeared on the water, surprised to see its trainer in such a rush. She jumped onto him and ordered him to swim as fast as he could to the shore. She returned him to his pokeball after she got onto land once more and she started to jog up the steps, hoping she would be able to catch Lance before he flew away.

Her face heated up when she thought about the dragon master. She loved being around him and was always sad to see him go. Her most fond memories of her adventure to climbing up the ladder to becoming one of the strongest trainers in johto and kanto always had him in them somewhere. She was getting towards the opening of the tunnel when someone grabbed her arm and pulled her towards them. She was about to elbow whoever grabbed her until she heard them speak.

"Took you long enough!" Lance chuckled, pulling her close to him.

"You shouldn't have taken off like you did! I went as fast as I could, I thought you were going to leave!" Lyra retorted, pouting at the man. She felt the cool cave wall on her back as she looked up at Lance. "Why didn't you tell me you were going to be here?"

"I wouldn't have left you, you know that. I could ask you the same thing. I was visiting with Clair and she mentioned how she saw Silver come into the cave a few hours ago and then she said she saw you enter the cave just before I arrived."

"And you jumped at the chance to see me, didn't you?" Lyra smirked, holding back her laughter as she saw a light pink tint appear on the champion's cheeks.

"Clair was the one who wanted to battle, I just came to see you." Lance admitted, feeling Lyra's arms snake around his neck. "And I almost got to battle with you, but Silver just couldn't take being on Clair's team."

"I think capes freak him out." Lyra joked, pulling Lance closer to her. "Don't know why, I think they add to the attractiveness of someone. They can make a good dramatic exit or entrance too."

"Good thing you and I think the same. I'd be outta luck if you didn't like capes." Lance said and Lyra laughed, sending shivers up his spine. "Sorry that we haven't gotten to see each other lately, I've been busy."

"Don't worry about it, I've been busy training." Lyra shrugged. "I'm just glad to see you now." And with that, she closed the gap between their lips and sighed. She had been wanting to kiss him for weeks. Her fingers ran through his hair and his hands started to wonder. She squeaked when he pinched her butt, giving him the perfect opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth. "Lance~" Lyra moaned as he moved to her neck, nipping and sucking on it. "Ah." One hand moved to his chest and gripped onto his shirt tightly while the other stayed against the back of his head. Pulling him in for another deep kiss.

"I was wondering where you two were…" Clair muttered after clearing her throat. Lance and Lyra froze and their faces turned red as they looked at the gym leader. "I knew you two had something going on when Lance wanted you to be on his team. Then you two kept smiling and looking at each other throughout the battle."

Lyra hid her face against Lance's chest, too embarrassed to look at his cousin.

"I don't care if you two are together or whatever just don't do it in here. What if grandpa catches you?" Clair asked, almost laughing as Lance's eyes went wide. He never thought about that. "See? I make a good point. Come on." She walked off and Lyra looked at Lance and then followed after Clair.

"At least we weren't further along." Lance said and Lyra shot him a look over her shoulder. "That would have been awkward."

"Too late for that.." Lyra murmured, relaxing as Lance took hold of her hand. "Let's just continue this back at your place."

"Sounds good to me." Lance smiled, holding her hand tightly. "What if my grandpa had caught us?"

"I really don't want to think about that."


End file.
